In 1919 a petition was distributed calling for the incorporation of the area known as the Provo Bench. This was accomplished and the town was organized and called “Orem” after Walter C. Orem, president of the Salt Lake and Utah Railroad.

Orem is a beautiful city located next to the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains, and is in the center of Utah Valley along with the city Provo, Utah.

Orem has been consistently ranked high on the Money Magazine’s ‘Best places to live in America’ survey.

Some of the activities in Orem include; shopping at University Mall, golfing, hiking, biking and much more!

Attractions

There are plenty of attractions to keep your family busy while in Salt Lake City. Many of the attractions are family-oriented. Children will love Lagoon amusement park, the Hogle Zoo, or Hansen Planetarium. Adults will enjoy shopping at historic Trolley Square or finding information on an ancestor at the LDS Family History Center.

Draper Historic Theatre

12366 South 900 East, East Draper(801) 572-4144 • DHT is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to providing quality family entertainment as well as positive, character building theatrical experience for our participants. DHT produces 6 exciting shows per year – two of them in our signature Broadway Kidz format which allows many young people an opportunity to participate. • The theater was built in 1938 and converted for live performances in 1988. Now run by it’s volunteer non-profit board the stage is set for many improvements in the years to come. • Has 180 seats on a sloped theater floor • Ticket prices are $6 – $10. $2 off coupons available at the website

Temple Square50 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City800-537-9703, 801-250-2534 • More than 7 million visitors each year • Free guided tours available every 10 minutes in the summer, and every 15 minutes in winter • Beautiful garden in the summer, and more than 300,000 lights adorn the grounds in the winter • Several important buildings to the Mormon culture are located on the square, including the Salt Lake Temple, the Tabernacle building with its magnificent pipe organ, and the Assembly Hall where concerts are held throughout the year.

Salt Lake Temple50 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City • Stands on Temple Square, a 10-acre block in downtown Salt Lake City • Construction began in 1853 and was completed and dedicated 40 years later in 1893 • Granite hauled from Little Cottonwood Canyon, 20 miles southeast of Salt Lake City • Walls stand 16 feet thick at base and 8 feet thick at top

7 year round ski and summer resorts:

All within one hours driving time from the international airport include; Alta, Brighton, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City, Snowbird, and Solitude

The Great Salt Lake • The largest body of water between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean • 70 miles long and 30 miles wide • The lake is eight times saltier than the ocean. • Only brine shrimp live in the waters

Antique – Classic Automobile Museum 355 West 700 South • Over 100 classic automobiles on display and for sale. • Classics include 1906 Cadillac, Packards, Pierce Arrows, V-12s and V16s. • Celebrity cars are also on display. • All displays are indoors.

The Delta Center 301 W. South Temple • Features many sporting events, concerts, and conventions • The future site of the Figure skating and Short Track Speed Skating events for the 2002 Olympics

Trolley Square 602 E. 500 S. Salt Lake City 801-521-9877 • More than 144 trolleys served the Valley from this location in 1914 • Service was discontinued in 1945 • Two floors of shopping and dining with over 90 shops and 20 restaurants • Theater complex with four screens

University of Utah 210 S. President’s Circle, Salt Lake City 801-581-7200 • 26,000 students • Among the top 50 public research universities in the nation • 68 undergraduate programs and 50 teaching major and minors are offered

Family History Library 35 N. West Temple, Salt Lake City 801-240-2331 • 250 microfilm camera operators record birth, marriage, death, probate, immigration, military and other records in 53 countries • 2 million rolls of microfilmed records with more than 2 billion names, 400,000 microfiche and 250,000 books • Records date from the mid-1500s to 1920 • Hours are Monday 7:30 am to 6 pm, and Tuesday – Saturday until 10 PM

Kennecott Utah Copper Bingham Mine Copperton. Phone: 801-252-3234 • World’s largest open-pit copper mines • 1/2 a mile deep • 2 1/2 miles across • Open to visitors from April to October 8th • Admission is $3.00 per car and $2.00 per motorcycle

Lagoon Amusement Park 375 N. Lagoon Dr., Farmington 801-451-8000 or (800) 748-5246 • 35 rides • Entire day passports are $25.95 for people 51 inches high to 59 years of age. (Prices are subject to change.) • Children 4 years old to 50 inches tall get in for $19.95. Toddlers younger than 3 and adults older than 60 can stay at the park for $12.50. (Prices are subject to change.)

Hansen Planetarium 15 S. State St., Salt Lake City 801-538-2104 or (800) UTAH-NET • Two floors of exhibits including a moon rock • Domed theater features star shows and laser/music shows • Hours are Monday through Thursday 9:30 am to 9:00 PM, and until Midnight on Friday and Saturday • Admission for Star and Science shows is $3.50 for children and seniors and $4.50 for teens and adults. • Admission for the Laser shows is $5.00 for children 12 and under and $6.00 for teens and adults. (*Prices are subject to change)

840 N. 300 W., Salt Lake City 801-322-5268 • Museum focuses on teaching kids while they play • Museum includes a miniature town – grocery store, gas station, and ATM machine • Children can freeze their shadow on the wall • Art project area • Magicians, clowns, artists perform at specific times • Monday-Thursday and Saturday, Hours are from 9:30 am to 5 PM • $3.00 for children and adults, children under 2 are free • Museum is open until 8 PM on Friday, and everyone older than 2 gets in for $1.50 • A child younger than 14 must have an adult accompanying them.

Hill Aerospace Museum 7961 Wardleigh Dr., Roy 801-777-6868 • More than 57 airplanes • Open 7 days a week, except holidays • Hours are from 9 am to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday and until 5:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday. • Admission is free

Hogle Zoo 2600 E. Sunnyside Ave. (800 S.), Salt Lake City 801-584-1750 • More than 900 amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles from across the world, on 42 acres of land at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. • Hogle Zoo’s newest exhibit, Asian Highland, features over 15,000 square feet of outdoor habitat, with five species of felines. • Steam engine tour around Desert Canyon at the Zoo • Hours are 9 am to 5 pm March 1 through October 31; 9 am to 4 pm November 1 through February 28 • Hogle Zoo is closed only on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. • Admission is $8.00 for adults and senior citizens and children ages 3 to 12 $6.00. Children 2 years of age and under are free (*Prices are subject to change)

Utah Museum of Natural History 250 S. 1300 E., University of Utah 801-581-6927 or 801-581-4887 for the summer field adventure • Help excavate Mastodon Bones • 30 different Jurassic dinosaur skeletons • Admission is $3.00 for adults and $1.00 for children

Wheeler Historic Farm 6351 S. 900 E., Salt Lake City 801-264-2212 or 801-264-2241 for camp information • Interactive Farm • Hay Rides • Pet animals • Admission is $2.00 for children ages 3 to 11 and senior citizens • Admission is $3.00 for adults 12 and over (*Prices are subject to change) • Admission includes a tour of the farmhouse, and a wagon ride around the property

FAQ’s

AREA CODES

The area code for Salt Lake City and surrounding area is (801). The rest of the state including Park City is (435)

TIME ZONE Salt Lake City is in the Mountain Time Zone and follows Daylight Savings Time.

TRANSPORTATION Highways: Interstate-15 slices through Utah, north to south, from Idaho to Arizona. Interstate-80 crosses the northern part of the state from Wyoming, running west into Nevada. Interstate-84 runs northwest toward Idaho from Echo Junction near the Wyoming border. US-6 / US-191 is the major route through the eastern and southeastern portions of the state. Interstate-70 runs west from Colorado to a junction with I-15 in central Utah. US-666 enters Utah’s southeastern corner from southern Colorado and joins US-191. I-15 Freeway Reconstruction: Reconstruction of Interstate 15 (I-15) will be going on until July of 2001. Daily updates of ramp closures are available by calling toll free 1-888-463-6415. Airports: The major airport is Salt Lake City International Airport, which was ranked ninth best in the U.S. By “Conde Nast Traveler” magazine. For more information contact the Salt Lake International Airport. 801-575-2400 Bus Service: Greyhound Bus Lines access several Utah cities and towns. In northern Utah, buses make regular stops in Provo, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Birgham and Logan. In eastern Utah, Greyhound runs to Vernal and Price. Heading to southwestern Utah on I-15, the bus line makes stops in Beaver, Parowan, Cedar City and St. George. Contact: 800-231-2222 Light Rail: A light rail system designed for commuter travel provides access to Salt Lake City and vicinity. Much of the project will be functional in early 2000, with total completion by 2002. Fares are $1.00 within the valley. For more info call 801-287-4636 Railroad: In Northern Utah, Amtrak makes daily stops in Salt Lake City. The line also has service to Ogden, north of Salt Lake, and Provo, to the south. In eastern and southeastern Utah, there is service to Helper and Thompson Springs. Amtrak trains also stop in Milford in southwestern Utah. Amtrak phone: 800-872-7245.

ACCOMMODATIONS, DINING, NIGHTLIFE: Visitors to Salt Lake have their choice of 17,000 hotel rooms and 7,000 rooms in nearby communities. More accommodations are being built for the 2002 Winter Olympics. There are more than 300 restaurants in the Salt Lake area. Seventy-five restaurants and numerous nightclubs are within walking distance of the Salt Palace Convention Center, the Delta Center Arena and downtown hotels. Alcoholic beverages may be served with meals in restaurants and hotels. Drinks are also available in non-exclusive clubs where visitors are welcome to purchase temporary memberships at a nominal fee. Liquor can be purchased in state liquor stores located in the Salt Lake area. Click here for a complete list of Salt Lake Hotels – Motels and restaurants.

SALT LAKE CITY SKI RESORTS:

Alta: 33 miles from SL airport Brighton:35 miles from SL airport Snowbird:31 miles from SL airport Solitude: 33 miles from SL airport

PARK CITY SKI RESORTS:

The Canyons:33 miles from SL airport Deer Valley:39 miles from SL airport Park City: 37 miles from SL airport

History

The settlement of Salt Lake City was not typical in many ways of the westward movement of settlers and pioneers in the United States. The people who founded the city in 1847 were Mormons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They did not come as individuals acting on their own, but as a well-organized, centrally directed group; and they came for a religious purpose, to establish a religious utopia in the wilderness, which they called the Kingdom of God on Earth. Like the Puritan founders of Massachusetts more than 200 years earlier, Mormons considered themselves on a mission from God, having been sent into the wilderness to establish a model society.

In many ways the history of Salt Lake is the story of that effort: its initial success; its movement away from the original ideas in the face of intense political, economic, and social pressure from the outside; and its increasing, but never complete, assimilation into the mainstream of American life. Its history has been the story of many peoples and of unsteady progress, and it was formed from a process of conflict–a conflict of ideas and values, of economic and political systems, of peoples with different cultural backgrounds, needs, and ambitions.

For about a generation after its founding, Salt Lake City was very much the kind of society its founders intended. A grand experiment in centralized planning and cooperative imagination, it was a relatively self-sufficient, egalitarian, and homogeneous society based mainly on irrigation agriculture and village industry. Religion infused almost every impulse, making it difficult to draw a line between religious and secular activities. A counterculture that differed in fundamental ways from its contemporary American society, it was close-knit, cohesive, and unified, a closely-woven fabric with only a few broken threads. The hand of the Mormon Church was ever present and ever active.

The extent of early Mormon pioneer unity can be, and often is, overstated. Even so, for the first few years of settlement, it was Salt Lake’s most striking feature. Gradually at first, however, and then more rapidly, the city began to change. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 and the subsequent spread of a network of rails throughout the territory ended the area’s geographic isolation. Its economy became more diversified and integrated into the national picture. Mining and smelting became leading industries. A business district, for which there was no provision in the original city plan, began to emerge in Salt Lake City. A working-class ghetto took shape in the area near and west of the railroad tracks. Urban services developed in much the same time and manner as in other cities in the United States, and by the beginning of the twentieth century Salt Lake was for its time a modern city. Main Street was a maze of wires and poles; an electric streetcar system served 10,000 people a day. There were full-time police and fire departments, four daily newspapers, ten cigar factories, and a well-established red-light district in the central business district. The population became increasingly diverse. In 1870 more than 90 percent of Salt Lake’s 12,000 residents were Mormons. In the next twenty years the non-Mormon population grew two to three times as rapidly as did the Mormon population. By 1890 half of the city’s 45,000 residents were non-Mormons; and there was also increasing variety among them, as a portion of the flood of twenty million immigrants who came to the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries found its way to Utah.

As Salt Lake changed, and in particular as the population became increasingly diverse, conflict developed between Mormons and non-Mormons. During its second generation, that was the city’s most striking feature, just as earlier the degree of unity was most conspicuous; Salt Lake became a battleground between those who were part of the new and embraced it and those who were part of the old and sought to hold on to that. Local politics featured neither of the national political parties and few national issues. Instead, there were local parties–the Mormon Church’s People’s party, and an anti-Mormon Liberal party–and during elections people essentially voted for or against the Mormon Church. Separate Mormon and Gentile (non-Mormon) residential neighborhoods developed. While many Mormons engaged in agricultural pursuits, few Gentiles owned farms. Two school systems operated: a predominantly Mormon public one and a mainly non-Mormon private one. Fraternal and commercial organizations did not cross religious lines. Sometimes Mormons and non-Mormons even celebrated national holidays like the Fourth of July separately.

Conflict began to moderate after 1890 when, as a result of intense pressure from the federal government, particularly in the form of the Edmunds Act of 1882 and the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, Mormon leaders decided to begin a process of accommodation to the larger society and endeavor to conform to national economic, political, and social norms. In 1890 Mormon Church President Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto, which proclaimed an end to the further performance of plural marriages. A year later, the church dissolved its People’s party and divided the Mormon people between the Democratic and Republican parties. Following that, non-Mormons disbanded their Liberal party. During the next several years, the church abandoned its efforts to establish a self-sufficient, communitarian economy. It sold most church-owned businesses to private individuals and operated those it kept as income-producing ventures rather than as shared community enterprises.

These actions simply accelerated developments of the previous twenty years, and the next two or three decades were a watershed in Salt Lake’s history. The balance shifted during those years. By the 1920s, as Dale Morgan says, the city no longer offered the alternative to Babylon it once had, and the modern city had essentially emerged. The process has continued to the present, with Salt Lake City increasingly reflecting national patterns.

Since Utah became urbanized at about the same rate as the United States as a whole, Salt Lake faced the problems of urbanization and industrialization at the same time they were surfacing elsewhere, and it responded in similar ways. During the Progressive Era, for example, it established a regulated vice district on the west side, undertook a city beautification program, adopted the commission form of government in 1911, and that same year elected a socialist, Henry Lawrence, as city commissioner. The city languished through the 1920s, as the depressed conditions of mining and agriculture affected its prosperity. The Great Depression of the 1930s hit harder in Utah than it did in the nation as a whole. Salt Lake correspondingly suffered, making clear its close relationship with the world around it and its vulnerability to the fluctuations of the national economy; and New Deal programs were correspondingly important in both city and state.

World War II brought local prosperity as war industries proliferated along the Wasatch Front. In the post-war period defense industries remained important, and by the early 1960s Utah had the most defense-oriented economy in the nation. It has remained in the top ten ever since. During the 1950s a number of important capital improvement projects were undertaken, including a new airport terminal, improved parks and recreational facilities, upgraded storm sewers, and construction of the city’s first water-treatment plants. As a move to the suburbs began, the city’s population grew slowly, increasing by only 4 percent through the 1950s. Racial discrimination was still one of Salt Lake’s most serious problems. The real power in the city lay with a group of three men (though it is difficult to get specific information detailing their activities): David O. McKay, president of the Mormon church; Gus Backman, executive secretary of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce; and John Fitzpatrick (and after his death in 1960, his successor, John H. Gallivan), publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune–representing, respectively, the city’s Mormon, inactive Mormon, and non-Mormon communities. The triumvirate continued to function through the 1960s.

Features of the period since 1960 include further enhancement of the city as the communications, financial, and industrial center of the Intermountain West; a declining population within the actual city boundaries (down fourteen percent between 1960 and 1980); the movement of both people and businesses to the suburbs as the valley population continues to increase; some decaying residential neighborhoods and a deteriorating downtown business district and the effort to deal with those conditions; the development of a post-industrial economy; and the rise to national prominence the Utah Jazz professional basketball team and of such cultural organizations as the Utah Symphony and Ballet West. The city’s population in 1990 was 159,936.

Salt Lake CityYet through all of this, Salt Lake has never become a typical American city; it remains unique. The Mormon Church is a dominant force, Mormonism is still its most conspicuous feature, and deep division between Mormons and non-Mormons continues, particularly on the social and cultural levels. There is still much to Nels Anderson’s observation in 1927 that Salt Lake is “a city of two selves,” a city with a “double personality.” As Dale Morgan observed more than forty years ago, Salt Lake is a “a strange town,” a place “with an obstinant character all its own.” That continues to be true.

John S. McCormick

Information

The Salt Lake Valley was settled in 1847 by Mormon pioneers (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The area offered a haven to practice their religion free from persecution. After an arduous trip by covered wagon through rough terrain, their leader, Brigham Young, spotted the valley and uttered the now-famous words, “This is the right place!” Little did he realize it would be the place for business, culture, fine dining, city adventures and a candidate for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games!

Statistics. Utah’s population is 1.8 million and 765,000 people live in the Salt Lake area. Utah has: • One of the 10 lowest violent crime rates • The youngest population • One of the highest birth rates and the second lowest death rate • The healthiest population • The highest literacy rate • The highest percentage of high school graduates • The highest number of people with college education’s

Business & Employment. Utah has: • The second largest concentration of computer software firms (Provo/Orem) • One of the four largest concentrations of biomedical firms (Salt Lake) • 450 high technology firms employing 13,000 workers.

Tourism, trade, government and manufacturing are Utah’s top four areas of employment. In 1994, CFO Magazine ranked Salt Lake as one of the best environments for business. In October 1993, Salt Lake tied with Indianapolis, Indiana as the eighth best place to live in North America.

Salt Lake CityTransportation. Interstate Highways 15 and 80 intersect in Salt Lake. “Conde Nast Traveler” magazine ranked Salt Lake City International Airport the ninth best in the U.S. The airport’s new International Building has customs and a duty free shop. Salt Lake International City Airport is closer to the heart of the city it serves (a ten minute drive) than nearly any other US airport. Nine major airlines and two regional carriers serve Salt Lake, offering a total of 624 arriving and departing flights daily, with 75,000 passenger seats. As the “Crossroads of the West” at least half of America’s population is located within a 2 12 hour flight from Salt Lake.

Hotels – Motels, Restaurants & Nightlife. Visitors to Salt Lake have their choice of 11,000 hotel rooms and 7,000 rooms in nearby communities. There are more than 300 restaurants in the Salt Lake area. Seventy-five restaurants and numerous nightclubs are within walking distance of the Salt Palace Convention Center, the Delta Center Arena and downtown hotels. Alcoholic beverages may be served with meals in restaurants and hotels. Drinks are also available in non-exclusive clubs where visitors are welcome to purchase temporary memberships at a nominal fee. Liquor can be purchased in state liquor stores located in the Salt Lake area.

Tourism. Seven million people visit the Salt Lake area each year. Sixty percent of the skiers at Salt Lake ski resorts are out-of-state and international visitors. In 1995, Life Magazine ranked Salt Lake as one of the top vacation getaways.

Sports & Recreation. Nine major ski resorts, three cross country ski areas and the nation’s only recreational ski jumping complex are less than an hour’s drive from downtown. During warmer seasons, Salt Lake canyons are filled with hikers, cyclists, rock climbers and picnickers. Utah is the home of the US Ski Team. Salt Lake’s low humidity (normally 15% or less) makes outdoor recreation more comfortable in both summer and winter. Sports fans enjoy two professional teams: The Utah Jazz – NBA basketball The Utah Grizzlies- IHL Hockey The Salt Lake Buzz – Triple A baseball

The Arts. Salt Lake is the perfect destination for patrons of the performing arts with: • Ballet West • The Utah Opera Company • Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company • Repertory Dance Theatre • The Mormon Tabernacle Choir • Numerous theater groups • The Utah Symphony (12th largest in the US) • Fifteen art galleries are within minutes of downtown hotels. Five more are only a short drive.

Museums of note in Salt Lake include: • The Museum of Natural History • The Utah State Historical Society • The Utah Museum of the Fine Arts

Attractions. Eleven national parks are less than a day’s drive from Salt Lake. Five of those are located in Utah.

Top attractions for Salt Lake Visitors include: Historic Temple Square, The Beehive House, The Bingham Copper Mine (world’s largest open pit mine), Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island, This is the Place Monument and State Park, The Utah State Capitol Building.

Within walking distance of Salt Lake’s Delta Center Arena and downtown hotels, visitors can explore the ZCMI Center Mall and Crossroads Plaza, two of the largest indoor shopping malls in the country. Many of the shops are open every day and stay open late on weekdays.

Trolley Square, a restored historic trolley station turned shopping mall, is a few blocks from downtown Salt Lake.